Support For Death Penalty Rises

67 Percent Favor It, Quinnipiac Poll Shows

Support for the death penalty in Connecticut continues to rise, a poll released Thursday shows, but that support softened when people were asked if those convicted of heinous crimes should instead get life in prison with no chance of parole.

The Quinnipiac University Poll shows that voters support the death penalty by 67 percent to 28 percent — a number that has increased in the aftermath of the Cheshire triple murders.

However, the gap narrowed to 48 percent in favor of the death penalty and 43 percent opposed when the option of life in prison without the possibility of release was added to the question.

"There is some squishiness,'' poll Director Doug Schwartz said. "Some people who tell us they favor the death penalty ... will then say then say they're for life in prison with no chance of parole when given a choice. When you look at the people who oppose the death penalty … then you ask them about the Cheshire murders, some of them would support it in that case.''

Ninety-seven percent of the respondents had heard about the brutal slayings in Cheshire in the summer of 2007. Seventy-four percent said Steven Hayes, who was convicted and sentenced to death in connection with the killings, should get the death penalty; 72 percent said a co-defendant awaiting trial, Joshua Komisarjevsky, should also be put to death if found guilty.

Four months after the murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and daughters Hayley and Michaela, support for the death penalty rose from 59 percent in 2005 to 63 percent. It rose again last year, to 65 percent.

The trend counters a movement in the Democratic-controlled legislature to abolish the death penalty. A bill to end capital punishment was passed by the state Senate and the House of Representatives in 2009 but was vetoed by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says he would sign a bill to eliminate capital punishment.

On Thursday, Malloy said the poll does not change his views. He supports a repeal of the death penalty for those defendants yet to be charged.

"I went through a long and arduous campaign and over a long period of time have told the people of Connecticut what I would do. and I specifically said that if a bill came to me that, on a prospective basis, eliminated the death penalty I would sign it,'' Malloy said. "It's a position that's supported by the Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church, a number of religious institutions. … If I was going to change [my position], which I was not going to do, it would be in a campaign where it almost cost me the election, but I didn't do it and I'm not going to do it now.''

State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, a New Haven Democrat who is leading the charge in favor of repeal, said the poll's results are consistent with past surveys, which show the public divided on the issue when life in prison without parole is part of the equation.

Yet during Monday's more than 10-hour public hearing on the death penalty repeal bill, several lawmakers pointed out that the public does not support ending capital punishment in the state.

Holder-Winfield said public policy matters should not be shaped solely by public opinion. "We can't simply make policy based on how people feel … because something scares us or makes us sad,'' he said.

The state has 10 people on death row. The last person executed in Connecticut was serial killer Michael Ross in 2005.

Pot, Sunday Alcohol Sales

The new poll also measured public support on two other hot-button issues: reform of the state's marijuana laws and Sunday sales of alcohol in liquor stores.

Sixty-five percent of respondents support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana; 32 percent oppose it.

On Monday, the judiciary committee will hold a hearing on the decriminalization bill. If passed, possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana would be treated just as a traffic infraction is, and tickets and fines would replace criminal penalties.

By a ratio of more than 2-to-1, respondents favor permitting alcohol sales on Sunday. Currently, stores cannot sell alcohol on Sundays.

The telephone poll of 1,693 Connecticut voters was taken March 1-7. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points